Archive for October, 2010

Mike Shanahan has 1 playoff victory as a head coach in the NFL over the past 13 years…ONE! That’s one more than I have! He won a couple of Super Bowls with John Elway and Terrell Davis 2 decades ago and he’s been living off that resume ever since. So far his decision making as head coach of the Redskins has been nothing short of terrible. His personnel decisions have been equally shitteous. Shanahan has total control, do not think for a second that Bruce Allen has any input on personnel decisions. Bruce’s job is to make Danny look good…that’s his job description.

This is a list of Shanahan’s F-ups so far, this is not a complete list…only a screen shot of the big picture of his debacles.

Pulling Donovan McNabb was one of the worst the worst coaching decisions I have ever witnessed in 30 years of watching football. The guy has won 65% of his career games and has dozens of 4th quarter comebacks. It’s not like you’re down 3 scores with a quarter to go and you’re looking for a “spark”. You’re down 6 with 2 minutes to go and you want Rex Grossman? Really?

The Redskins #1 and #2 running backs have been released by the Redskins in past few weeks. Ryan Torain and Keiland Williams were RELEASED! Not deactivated…released! Exposed to the rest of the league, where would we be without them?

The Redskins most dynamic and exciting player, possibly the best player on their team the last few weeks…was also recently cut. We RELEASED Brandon Banks on September 25th!

6 out of the last 7 TD’s scored by the Redskins on offense or special teams were scored by players that have been released by the Redskins in the past few weeks.

The handling of Albert Haynesworth has been screwed 6 ways from Sunday. The guy is a force on the field and you’ve paid him $40 million in the past 18 months…swallow you’re pride and play the guy!

I can’t even start on play-calling and game-planning…I’m too angry to write anymore. Old Wooden Teeth needs to get his shit together.

As I was sitting in Vegas last Sunday watching the Redskins/Bears game, I almost spit out my $12 beer when I read the above tweet. I want to say something right away, technically the Bears did not “top” the Redskins bid. Also, I was never in favor of a trade for Jay Cutler. The Bears traded two lower 1st round picks and only one 3rd rounder for Jay Cutler. Somehow, Vinny Cerrato was so bad at his job that he couldn’t convince the Bears that an extra 3rd round pick and 1st round picks that ended up being #13 and #4 overall (as opposed to #18 and #22 overall)was the better deal.

Thankfully, he failed at failing. It was probably the best thing he ever did.

That rings especially true when you realize just how ugly the trade would have been for the Redskins. To put it in the simplest terms possible, the Redskins would have traded Brian Orakpo, Trent Williams, Donovan McNabb, Kevin Barnes and next years 3rd round pick for Cutler. While Kevin Barnes and a 3rd rounder next year sound like fair compensation for Cutler, the rest sounds a bit excessive…to put it mildy.

The Redskins would have Jay Cutler and his lifetime 45% winning percentage as a starting QB.

The Redskins would not have Donovan McNabb and his lifetime 65% winning percentage.

The Redskins would not have Brian Orakpo, one of the best defensive players in the game and a perenial Pro Bowl player.

The Redskins would not have Trent Williams to protect the QB’s blindside for the next decade.

This could’ve turned out bad Redskins fans, really bad. Well, maybe not so bad if the trade went thru and the Redskins changed DeAngelo Hall to a wide receiver…

I’ve been watching a few UFL games and living in Florida I naturally gravitated towards the Tuskers. Now, every Redskins fan has a UFL team to pull for (although next year Virginia will have a team with Doug Williams as the GM). The Tuskers have more Redskins ties than just Theismann. Bobby Beathard’s son Kurt is the teams running backs coach and the kicker for the Tuskers is Mr. Cowboy killer himself, Nick Novak. The team is loaded with former NFL players, most notably QB Brooks Bollinger and LB Odell Thurman. The Tuskers Head Coach and GM is Jon Gruden’s brother Jay.

I’ll never understand Clinton Portis, he makes a nice run on the 2nd offensive play of the game then raises his hand to come out of the game??? I guess that’s why he’s 2nd on the depth chart now.

Ryan Torain was impressive. He’s got that Eric Dickerson straight-up running style that I’m not a big fan of but he’s looked good so far. An added bonus…he seems to want to stay on the field instead of begging out of drives.

The pass by Donovan McNabb to Fred Davis was definitely off the mark but Davis has to catch that ball, he had nothing but open field in front of him.

How bad do the Redskins miss Trent Williams? Chris Cooley is having to stay in and help Stephon Heyer and Jammal Brown on 75% of the pass plays.

Why is Josh Bidwell on the team? We have a punter with a bad hip, that’s not good. 15 yard punts with the game hanging in the balance is not good. Bring back Hunter Smith, he was our offensive MVP last year.

The optimist says the Redskins should be 3-1. The pessimist says they should be 0-4 if not for a holding penalty and a dropped pass.

Donovan McNabb didn’t look good, passes landing at receivers feet and an ugly interception. That being said he made some big plays and found a way to win, that’s what makes him different from Jason Campbell. Statistically they may be similar, but as a leader (see video above) and as playmakers it’s not close.

What is up with our Wide Receivers? I’m unable to believe that Devin Thomas can’t contribute more that what we’re getting…give the kid a chance.

Love Brandon Banks on special teams, hate Brandon Banks as a goal line running back. Seriously, a 150lb wide receiver should not be your short yardage back. I’m sure he impressed the coaches last week while impersonating Michael Vick on the scout team and they decided to try it in the game. I’m all for giving him some offensive opportunities but this speedster needs some space to create plays.

Carlos Rodgers, really?

You know the defense played better when London Fletcher and Rocky McIntosh are you’re leading tacklers, not DeAngelo Hall and Laron Landry.

If there is one bright spot to this disappointing start to the Redskins season I would have to say that it’s the introduction of the digital magazine HAIL! If you are a Redskins fan and you have not signed up for a free subscription to this magazine, you need to do so right now! Each week that it’s delivered to my email account I’m more and more impressed.

The magazine is edited by Brian Murphy, aka Homer McFanboy. Each issue is packed with awesome pictures and coverage of the previous weeks game as well as a preview of the Redskins next opponent. In addition, the magazine also has a feature on a current player, a “where are they now” of past players (which I love) and other cool items like tailgating recipes. Ben Ceccarelli (from Hail cartoon) has added another cartoon entitled ‘Pigskins’.

Check out the website here and make sure you subscribe. It cost nothing even though the magazine is priceless. By subscribing you’ll also be entered to win a game used Phillip Daniels jersey…sweet! There is a box that asks who you were referred by, you can tell them Fatpickle sent you if you’d like.